Sunday, 12 April 2009

BAD TIMING

Bad Timing (1980) Directed by Nicholas Roeg

The whole film deals and plays on time.Flashbacks of the passionate affair between Alex (Art Garfunkel) and the impulsive Milena (Theresa Russell) in the city of Vienna slowly reveal the tale of events.

Perhaps I went onto overload with the images, there are many more stills I would have loved to add but I suppose it is because the film really struck me. Roeg's use of editing is so singular, strong and seductive. Bad Timing, though dark, works on so many levels.

I was also a little dubious at first about Garfunkels performance as I presumed the singer would lack great acting skills. A naive and skeptical view, Garfunkel was truly great !

Roeg's homing in on small details, much like Bunuel, is perhaps not something everyone recalls. However I see it as a powerful symbolic element, one that builds and adds tension.